Tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) is currently in the midst of what some call “Microsoft 2.5,” an era of Microsoft that features widespread change in just about every part of its operations. This also includes cybersecurity, which features more threat actors turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to stage attacks, and businesses trying to put AI to use to stop those same attacks. And Microsoft’s new executive vice president of Microsoft Security, Hayete Gallot, recently tackled what AI means for cybersecurity. This did not help share prices much, though, as investors sent Microsoft shares down nearly 2.5% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
Gallot got right to the heart of the matter, noting, “Customers care about two things: solving for security and being able to afford it.” This is, generally, true. No one wants an affordable solution that protects nothing, and no one wants a solution that protects everything but is also unaffordable. And Gallot has been busy trying to produce solutions that thread those needles perfectly. So far, at least nine different corporate vice presidents have left the company since her return to Microsoft.
With Microsoft counting security as a $20 billion annual revenue rate in just 2023, it is clear there is a lot at stake. And with Microsoft offering tools in everything from identity management to endpoint management to even compliance tools, Gallot has a lot to offer the customer base. Agentic security is one of the latest additions to the roster, offering a way to not only protect models and training data, but also protect the tools involved in handling these things. Potential threat vectors can be better found and removed accordingly.
Help for the Hacked
Good news is also on tap for customers who find their accounts have been hacked. Trying to fix such a matter used to be the stuff of nightmares, featuring “…Kafka-esque rabbit holes…mazes of dead links and abandoned phone lines.” But there are signs that this may be turning around, with new support systems coming in that can do more than send users on a nightmare journey with little hope.
With Microsoft increasingly going all-digital, and physical media being nearly unobtainium at this point, having better support for hacked accounts is a vital part of keeping that operation running. It will be worth watching to see how far Microsoft’s improvements go, and if those improvements can gain traction for the long term.
Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 35 Buys, one Hold, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 23.59% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $558.86 per share implies 46.55% upside potential.
